Hollywood and Sexual Abuse, Why Are Americans Surprised?

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For the New Christian Intellectual

6 min readOct 19, 2017

News recently broke about a major figure in Hollywood who has been accused of sexually abusing women over the course of decades. Americans have reacted with shock and awe, clutching their pearls in surprise that such a thing could have been going on for so long in Hollywood with numerous A-list celebrities turning a blind-eye.

But why is anyone surprised? As a nation, are we really this stupid? Young actresses routinely have to appear naked on film just to get a part, and somehow we are surprised to find that so many of them are being abused even more behind the scenes (allegedly)?

With the surprise people are expressing, you would think that no one in America had ever seen a Hollywood movie.

Singer Joy Villa talks about her experience

This has apparently been an open-secret for generations. With all of the virtue signalling in Hollywood, you would think that an actual rape culture would be frowned upon. Yet actresses, including Shirley Temple and Judy Garland, have talked about this winked-at and excused abuse for decades.

Ben Shapiro on the history of Hollywood’s open sexual abuse for the last 100 years

Now I often hear Christians and Conservatives decrying all of the vulgarity in culture, TV, and movies, while they tune in for an episode of Game of Thrones or Family Guy. These same Christians and Conservatives say that they don’t watch these things for the sexual content, but if Jesus were sitting right next to you, would you still be watching?

Sexual abuse has been an open-secret in Hollywood for decades, according to many actresses.

I once used to be a huge fan of Family Guy, and looking back, I think that Seth McFarland is one of the greatest comedians of our time, and that he has a brilliant mind. His references to pop culture icons including Narnia, Superman, and others were incredibly witty and clever.

But when I was in my early years in college, a friend of mine named Tim who was only a year older than me, but much older in the Faith, pointed out that the filthy humor may not be affecting me at the moment, but it sends my mind down the gutter, and he was right.

Another friend pointed out Ephesians 5:4 “ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” ESV

Once I stopped watching shows like that (and this was a huge battle) my desire for sin greatly waned.

I read an interview once, and for the life of me I could not find the article on Google, but the interview was with a director of a major show on television, to the best of my memory. During this interview, the director said that he is appealing to the “pervs” in the audience, and he doesn’t really care if a “prude” in the audience looks away from objectionable scenes. After all, whether you are a prude or a perve, he still has your money that you spent to go to the movie theater.

We vote with our dollars. Imagine if we demanded that Hollywood and pop culture stopped it’s abuse of women, and it’s targeted exploitation of men and young boys.

What can be done?

Fortunately, we live in the 21st Century, which means we do not have to sacrifice quality to consume good content. In the age of watching shows and movies on demand, we can select from countless titles for entertainment. Also, Christian movie and television reviews are your friend!

I recently made the mistake of going to a movie without reading a review beforehand. I went with great friends, and did not have time to read a review. It was an amazing film, however the amount of nudity was shocking even by today’s standards. This is a mistake I do not intend to make twice, as I voted with my dollars for exploitation.

And what was the point of the nudity in this film, or any Hollywood film? Did it serve any purpose or add to the story in any way?

Even more amazing, the rise of independent books has grown incredibly in the past few years! Amazon.com now has platforms where artists can publish their work for free, including certain works of fan fiction!

There have been some amazing examples of independent video games as well. (Not to mention music.)

While it is true that indie films and shows have a reputation of being notoriously bad, they are getting better, thanks to better technology, and a greater openness to “Geek Culture” and living one’s own life without concern for unjustly judgemental glances.

I will include a few examples of great independent and/or Christian media below. But keep in mind that there are also amazing examples of mainstream films, such as Spirited Away, or The Matrix, that may or may not contain a Christian message, but are still incredible films to watch!

IMBD: good movies without nudity or sexual Scenes

Some examples of content from indie and Christian creators

Books

I personally have an author page on Amazon, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/G.S.-Muse/e/B074DPZ8PZ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1508367597&sr=8-2

I also would like to recommend The Write Stuff Radio with Christian speculative fiction and romance author Parker J Cole. You can learn more about her work, and listen to her radio show where she interviews some of the most creative Christian authors in the business!

Christian Speculative Fiction — The Write Stuff Radio

Music

My “Study Music” Playlist featuring Andrew Clocksin’s “Bring The Snow” (note, I have not looked at the cover art for all of the videos from all of the artists in this epic playlist)

Movies

Prelude to Axanar -A short film that was set up as the prequel to the legally controversial full-length “Axanar” film. This fan-made film featured actors that have been front-and-center in the Star Trek franchise. While making an indie fan film in-and-of-itself does not violate copyright, the producers pushed the boundaries on what is legally acceptable.

TV Shows

Dead Reckoning started out as a lighthearted series that took place in a world where mindless zombies were taking over college campuses. This series was very tongue-in-cheek flaunting, rather than hiding the fact that they were using Nerf blasters as their props. But now the series is in a soft-reboot where the Nerf blasters are being replaced with realistic props and the series is taking on an overall darker and deeper tone.

The producer of this series happens to be a Christian, and happens to be someone that I have done videos with. While the Zombie genre may seem overrun, this guy and his team are bringing new energy to the way the undead are approached with their unique up-and-coming sci-fi twist!

Video Games

Lifeless Planet and Planetary Annhiliation are two of my favorite video games. I am not aware that either was created by Christian artists, but both have blown me away in their own right!

Lifeless planet is a story-driven game about an astronaut who lands on a distant planet thought to be lifeless to discover the remains of an abandoned 20th Century Soviet town. The gameplay is engaging, but laid-back, with a grade-A sci-fi plot that keeps the player wanting more!

Lifeless Planet trailer

Planetary Anhiliation and it’s Titans expansion have virtually no story except robot armies in the future building giant armies and blowing up planets to kill the other armies of giant robots! Battles take place across multiple planets within star systems, making these some of the largest battlefields I’ve seen in any strategy game.

Fans of StarCraft and Starcraft II are sure to love this amazing indie gem!

Planetary Annihilation — Launch Trailer

Thank you for reading!

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